This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Bates College's goal is to increase institutional capacity in the area of molecular biology and functional genomics. The College will create a molecular biology research suite to centralize instrumentation that is currently spread across many labs and to establish a central, convenient location for faculty and student use. Through equipment and improved facilities, as well as funds for start-up lab supplies, INBRE funds will augment institutional support for the new tenure-track molecular biologist Bates is in the process of hiring, and will be important to the research and teaching development of our junior faculty. Finally, the increased capacity resulting from the first round of INBRE funding has resulted in continued growth in the number of student researchers each summer and in faculty labs during the year;current INBRE funding will enable Bates to support interested students with summer and academic year research experiences and to provide their supplies.